Archive for the ‘Its not easy being green’ Category

Wednesdays, our garbage and recycling are picked up. Yes, both on the same day. Its incredibly convenient. I throw my one bag of garbage in the can in the garage, drag it out, and then put all the recycling bins out. I have my own stacking ones for glass/cans/plastic, newspaper, office paper and cardboard and one big blue bin from the recycling society that we use for bottles. The bottles are returned by the recycling society for the deposit, which is used to fund the society.

Now, on to my point.

Both garbage and recycling, including this bin of bottles, are set out around 7am. My neighbours two doors down in my complex also have the same stacking bins which they use pretty much exclusively for their myriad bottles (they enjoy their beverages).

At some point, the garbage truck goes by and takes the garbage. It’s almost always before the recycling people. Today, the Poptart and I were coming back from our morning program (Mother Goose, FTW!) and I noticed the garbage was gone. I pulled the car into the garage and went to retrieve the garbage can. I noticed the recycling from the other side of the complex was gone, as were my bottles. I looked at my two-doors-down neighbours and their bottles were gone too. The rest of the recycling on my side of the complex was still there.

I would have stopped and scratched my head but it was pouring. So I put the garbage can back, got us into the house, and went to find the roomba (it got jammed under the TV stand).

Then the recyclers came by and picked everything up.

This isn’t the first time my bottles have disappeared before the rest of the recycling; it happened a couple of weeks ago too. I figure there are 3 different options:

The recyclers picked up the bottles when they made their first round.

The garbage men took the bottles (although they are clearly in a recycling box) either for trash or the deposit.

I blogged about my November Project earlier – focusing on reusing and repurposing things more. So here are the week 1 results:

1. Toy storage

The Poptart needed a laundry basket. She’s also outgrown her bassinet. So the bassinet got repurposed as toy storage for the living room, and the basket we had been using got switched to her laundry basket:

2. Baby Proofing

The TV stand in the living room is a Costco special. Its made of metal and heavy, tempered glass. Its big enough to support a 60″ tv. It is, in other words, a good item for the Poptart to knock her head against:

So we got some insulation tubing for water pipes. They’re foam tubes that have a slit up the side. They are now attached to the edges:

The Poptart, of course, has already figured out how to pull them off.

I’m calling this a repurposing because, well, it is. Even though we bought the insulation new.

3. I feel like a heel. Its kind of crummy

I made these:

Into this:

Rather than throwing out the bread heels, I turned them into bread crumbs. Please to ignore the parts to my blender and food processor lying about. Also please to ignore the dirty food processor.

Pretty much all of us are familiar with the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra. What we don’t always remember, though, is that those actions are listed in order of priority. The most sustainable choice is always to reduce our consumption. If that fails, reusing something that we already have, or that someone else already has, is an excellent second choice. And only then, if an item is not reusable, recycling is a good way to reduce our waste and our consumption of raw materials.

(Emphasis added)

A lot of people I know have already reduced their consumption. They also recycle, for one reason or another. But I’m curious: how much do we actually reuse stuff beyond the usual reusing shopping bags, ziplocs, wrapping paper/gift bags etc? Or, dare I say it, repurpose it?

And let’s face it: November on the Wet Coast is dreary, dark and generally unpleasant. I need a project other than finding new ways to wear the Poptart in the Babyhawk or the Beco and washing diapers.

So for November I’m going to figure out ways to repurpose and reuse things beyond the shopping bags, the cloth diapers, etc. at least 3 times a week. Nothing complex, just a little outside-the-box thinking.

A couple of weeks ago, the Poptart outgrew the small diapers I had for her. So I called the service and arranged for larger diapers. The problem? That was a weekend and they only deliver on Thursday. Meh, I thought. A few days of disposables won’t hurt. Because I’m just not doing that much laundry.

So we put her in disposables and she got a rash. We tried vaseline, zinc-based creams, and lubed her up like you wouldn’t believe before diapering her and nothing. I even let her air out for a few hours one day on a pile of towels and a waterproof pad (and really, she’s a nudist and loves being nekkid). We switched brands. Nothing helped.

So when the diapers were delivered I put her back in cloth. Within about a day, the rash had just about cleared up.

SOLD.

(we still put her in a disposable at night, but that’s because they absorb better and she sleeps a bit longer)

At the same time, I’d started looking into diaper wipes. Apparently, most of the chemicals used on them are not baby safe. And they’re freaking expensive.

So I cut up some extra receiving blankets to about the size of commercial wipes and made a solution of water, baby wash and a couple of drops of tea tree oil and started using that. And her skin has never been better. In fact, I’m starting to think I should be using that solution on my nether regions.

My only problem is that the cut up receiving blankets shed after they’re washed because the edges fray and I don’t sew. If anyone wants to hem them for me, there’s a bottle of wine in it for you 🙂

Also there is still time to sign the cloth diaper petition! If you want a copy I have a pdf and you can email me at rtissues (at) gmail (dot) com for a copy.

Where’s my tax credit for doing what I can? Where are my chits for locally grown meats and vegetables? Why not start there where its something more tangible?

Well, there’s an opportunity now. My diaper service has a petition in the Canadian House of Commons to ask for a tax credit for those that use cloth diapers and/or use a diaper service, and to increase taxes on disposable diapers. I have a copy of the petition to sign and I’m asking for your help.

Simply put, the more signatures that are collected, the better the chance at having a tax credit implemented.

So here’s the deal: if you want to sign and you’re in the metro Vancouver/west Fraser Valley area (up to Chilliwack), I’ll meet you. We can have lunch, coffee, whatever and you can meet the poptart. I mean, with this much cuteness, how can you say no?

Update: If you’re not local and have no access to Happy Nappy, or even if you are local and want to take it around to your friends/family/cloth diapering aficionados, I have a PDF of the petition. Leave a comment if you would like it sent to you. Note, the original needs to be sent back to Happy Nappy in Langley by July 31.

I thought I should get this posted before I, oh I don’t know, go into labour.

anytime, kid, anytime.

One of the dilemmas I’ve been having is diapers. I’ve been reading quite a bit about cloth diapering here and here. And I like the idea of cloth diapering. I really like it. Its good for the environment. Its better for your baby. The diapers are cute beyond belief. But I am lazy and it just seemed so much easier to throw out a disposable diaper, than to spray down diapers, wash them put in any inserts and how to use the damn things. And I was overwhelmed anyways because of a various ISSUES that made me want to drink, but oh hey, pregnancy and CAN’T.

Ice cream is a good substitute, however. Until your intestines disagree with this.

Oh and the scariness of Braxton-Hicks contractions didn’t help.

But I digress. Sort of.

I went out and bought some diapers because hello, baby on the way and I had coupons.

And then I had a shower and got a diaper cake, lovingly prepared by Sunshine. Which leads me to the current stash of disposable diapers:

And I thought, that’s not too bad – should last awhile. And then I realized that newborns go through up to 10-12 diapers per DAY. And my inner green person started feeling guilty. Because all that plastic and shit (Ha! get it?!) equals billions of years of biodegrading. Or something like that to my pregnant brain.

And there’s an extra half pack of diapers in the hospital bag along with some loose samples I received from various companies.

And so cloth diapering reared its head again. But again I am lazy and cheap. And when you’ve got more than one kid who will be using diapers, I’m positive cloth diapering is cheaper when you buy your own diapers. One kid? Not so much.

I was at the doctor’s office. There’s this counter I go past on the way to the bathroom – and there was a pamphlet for a diaper service and a sample of the diaper they supply. So I took a flyer, fondled the diaper (soft, cute, yellow) and showed the flyer to Darren, who as usual was exceedingly helpful when it came to making a decision on diapering: “So how do you feel about cloth diapering?” “You’re the one who’s going to be home. Its up to you.”

Thanks, hon.

So I crunched some numbers: disposable diapers = about $20/week. Diaper service = about $25/week. Oh and they pick up and deliver clean diapers once a week. THEY CLEAN THE DIAPERS FOR YOU.

I think it goes without saying that it appealed to my inner green lazy person.

So I ordered the diapers. They have this pre-birth delivery that consists of this:

Diaper pail with charcoal filtre.

And inside is a wetbag with diapers. You line the pail with the bag, put the diapers in your changetable and done.

And they’re yellow and adorable.

Now I just need some diaper covers.

This shipment arrived the day I was writing my last post about how adequate and accessible pre- and post-natal care for expectant mothers and their babies make for healthier communities.

In the industrialized world, we’re very much aware of the environmental impact of our actions. Its just unfortunate that the costs of making better environmental choices, community choices (and if you want to get all political-sciencey, choices in the interest of the public good) are a damn sight more expensive than the disposable choices. If you’re having to pay for medical insurance, or god forbid, medical care because you have no insurance, you’re not able to make those choices.

That $5/week difference may mean the difference between:

cloth diapers and food on the table

cloth diapers and medical insurance

cloth diapers and medical care.

This may be a bit of a weak link, but I can tell you now that if I had to pay for medical insurance vs. cloth diapers? I’d choose the medical insurance.

Because I don’t have to worry about medical insurance, I’m in a position where I can make the choice that is better for my community – I can afford that extra fee and make it easy on myself to make that choice.

There are many direct and indirect benefits of providing accessible medical care. And this might just be one of them.

The $100 cheques, which were meant to offset the impact of the province’s new carbon tax, were only supposed to be sent to residents currently living in B.C., but Hansen said roughly 20,000 were mistakenly mailed out to former British Columbians now living in other parts of the country.

Okay, now, laugh at this part:

Letters have been sent to the affected recipients asking them to return the dividend, and Hansen said anyone who does not may have the money automatically deducted from their next tax return.

Done laughing now?

Look, people, its not that difficult. All postal codes in BC begin with a “V”. When you’re printing the cheques, simply tell the program to print only the addresses with postal codes that begin with a “V”. Its a relatively simple “IF” statement.

Sure, they’re taking the money back – great. But what about all the original costs of printing? According to this article, $10 million was initially set aside for printing and mailing 3.4 million cheques. Lets see: $10 million divided by $3.4 million is about $2.94 (rough figures) per cheque for printing and mailing. 20,000 multipled by $2.94 is $58,800.

Sure, not a hell of a lot of money in the provincial budget, but lets look at this:

How many rent or mortgage payments is that?
How many car payments is that?
How much greening can you do on your house for that?
How many bus passes is that?